Far Away
by starspangledlibra
Summary: Rei and Nagisa, now about to be third-year students, visit a university together, but when Nagisa fails to take the visit seriously, Rei begins to wonder about their future together. They're best friends now, but what will happen once they graduate? (Slight future AU)
1. Chapter 1- It's Only Natural

Rei loved watching his best friend sleep. He was well aware of how creepy that might sound, so he never told anyone, not even Nagisa himself. In fact, the little blond would probably give him the hardest time out of anyone if he ever mentioned it to him. But that didn't change the fact that when Nagisa slept, he looked like an angel. That when those magenta eyes closed, and the soft lines on his face faded into nothing, he looked so serene, so peaceful, which was a complete contrast from how he was when he was awake. Even now, with his head leaning against the window of the train, with his hair ruffled from movement, and cookie crumbs in his lap, there was something about the way the sunlight hit his face, giving a gleam to his lightly tanned skin. He was beautiful.

"Mmmm, Rei-chan," the blond mumbled. ReI froze. Had Nagisa heard him; was he making too much noise and woken his friend up? He had thought for sure that all of those things had stayed in his head like they were supposed to, but maybe something had slipped out…

"Yes?" he answered hesitantly. "What is it?" Silence pervaded for a moment, and then:

"Rei-chan, your butt… looks nice in that speedo, but… I think it's too small…"

"Erg-?!" A deep blush spread across Rei's cheeks before he realized what was happening. Then he groaned. Nagisa was still asleep. Of course. How could he have forgotten about his friend's unfortunate tendency to talk in his sleep? So often when Nagisa was sleeping nearby, either at night, or at lunch break, during one of Nagisa's frequent afternoon naps, Rei would hear his name, along with what was usually incoherent nonsense, and then all would fall silent once again, indicating that the other boy was indeed still asleep. This was exactly what happened here; though Nagisa stirred, he did nothing to acknowledge Rei's attention, and so with a sigh, Rei returned to his book, the hint of a smile on his face.

The truth was, he actually found it slightly endearing, if not a little odd, that the blond dreamt about him so much (sometimes he almost wished he could see these dreams, maybe catch a glimpse of what was going on inside that head of his). But what did that mean? Weren't dreams simply desires or fears stored deep in the human subconscious? If that was true, then, well, he knew Nagisa didn't fear him, so did he desire him, or…

Rei shook these thoughts away. What kind of conclusion was he trying to draw from these thoughts anyway? That Nagisa liked him? Loved him? Secretly desired to have Rei all to himself? What proof did he have- just because he was constantly touching him, and that he mumbled his name a few times a week; did that mean… No. That was ridiculous! Nagisa showered everyone with physical affection; that was just who he was. And as for the dreams, they were best friends.. Ever since Rei had joined the swim team nearly two years ago, they had become nearly inseparable. They did everything together. They went to school together, always jogging the last mile, sometimes Rei jogging the last half mile with Nagisa on his back, if he was particularly tired that morning. They ate lunch together, they swam together, they did homework together, though doing homework together often meant that Rei would do all the work, and Nagisa would get up to make snacks, and then copy the answers when he returned. They hung out on the weekends together, at the beach, or at the movies… Even now, here they were, visiting their first university together. It all made sense. Nagisa spent so much time with Rei; of course he thought about him a lot. Therefore, it was only natural that Rei would appear in his dreams, as he was so often in his thoughts.

Yes. There was nothing wrong with that- two best friends spending a lot of time together, one appearing in the other's dreams sometimes. Rei had never once dreamed about Nagisa; well actually, he had, a few times in fact, but the nature of these dreams was not something he cared to discuss with Nagisa, or well, really anyone. Rei could feel the blush rising in his cheeks again, his pants suddenly feeling tighter at the memory of those dreams. Not that there was anything wrong with that either; this was just information that he didn't want to share with anyone, lest they get the wrong idea. As a teenage boy, Rei had needs and urges sometimes, and, well… Nagisa was an attractive young man, whom he often saw with his shirt off during swim practice. He was also usually the last person that Rei would see, who wasn't a family member, before he went to bed. It was only natural.

Rei was brought back to the present when he felt a weight suddenly drop onto his shoulder. He turned to find that that weight was Nagisa's head. Normally, he didn't mind it when Nagisa used him as a pillow; he did it all the time, but right now, the tightness in his pants was already making him uncomfortable, and he feared it would only get worse if he let the small blond stay where he was, with his head on his shoulder, his hand brushing up against his thigh. Rei squirmed in discomfort and crossed his legs. Yeah, he definitely had to move him. And so, as gently as possible, Rei reached over with his free arm and shook his friend lightly.

"Nagisa-kun… Nagisa-kun?" Slowly, the other boy awoke, mumbling something along the lines of 'what time is it?' as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh hi, Rei-Chan," he said with a yawn. "Are we there yet?" Rei shook his head.

"Not yet. Almost. Just a couple more hours."

"A couple more hours?" he whined. "But Rei-chan, we've been on the train all day!"

"No, not all day. We've only been on this train for five hours, and…" He glanced at his watch. "Twenty-three minutes."

"Ugh, it feels even longer when you say it like that! We should have gone to Osaka first- that's where Mako-chan and Haru-chan are going in April… And it's a lot closer."

"Quit complaining. I was nice enough to register the both of us for this visit; I could have easily just registered myself. Besides, weren't you the one who said that we should do this together, something about the bond of going on a trip with your best friend?"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't know it would take this long. I thought we'd be flying!"

"Plane tickets to Tokyo would have cost too much money, especially on such short notice. Besides, I… don't like flying very much." He broke Nagisa's gaze and stared down awkwardly at the floor of the train. "Air sickness is not beautiful."

Nagisa laughed. "Ahh, that's right! I guess you wouldn't want to fly again, huh; not after what happened on the flight to nationals."

Rei groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Well, it wasn't all bad though! The stewardess was really nice and gave us all whatever we wanted for the rest of the flight."

"Oh, and I'm sure it was great for you, with your three ice cream sundaes and strawberry soda! I couldn't keep anything down!"

"Ahh, yeah, I guess you're right; it was more fun for the rest of us than it was for you... Sorry, Rei-chan."

"Well, the whole experience was not entirely awful, I suppose. The free movie service we received did help take my mind off of things a bit. And we did end up winning the tournament, so it was all worth it in the end."

Nagisa smiled. "Yeah… But if it saves Rei-chan's stomach to take the train, then I guess it's better to take the train… It's so boring just sitting here though! And my iPod died earlier this morning."

"Well, you should have charged it last night like I tol… Here, just use mine," he said, pulling a purple MP3 player out of his bag. Immediately, Nagisa's eyes lit up.

"Ooh, I get to listen to Rei-chan's music; this will be fun!" He turned on the iPod and began untangling the earbuds. "But… what will you listen to?" Rei smirked.

"I don't need to listen to anything right now; I've brought my book, which will keep me perfectly entertained until we… reach… Tokyo." But before he could finish his sentence, the smaller boy had already jammed an earbud into his ear, taking the other one for himself.

"We'll share, ok?" he asked. Then, not waiting for an answer, he chose the first song. Rei groaned as he heard what he knew to be the beginnings of the song Butterfly by Smile. Nagisa played this for him all the time, ever since learning that Rei had a thing for butterflies. He had played it the entire week incessantly, after the team had found that Rei could do the butterfly stroke. He thought it was slightly cheesy back then, but now, it was just plain annoying. His annoyance slowly faded into confusion, however, as he realized something important. "Wait, how did-" he started, but Nagisa had already broken down into a fit of giggles. "It was you- you put this on my iPod, didn't you?!"

"N-no… I don't know what you're talking about! Nagisa tried his best to answer with a straight face, but he ultimately failed and started laughing again. At Rei's glare, he simply smiled. "Aww, lighten up, Rei-chan," he said as he nudged his friend in the ribs. "I know you love this song!" Rei turned away, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Love is hardly the word I would use to describe my feelings for this song. I'm deleting it as soon as we get home." But the sight of the blond bouncing excitedly in his seat to the obnoxious tune, his dark pink eyes so alive, so happy; that happiness was contagious. Rei sighed. Maybe the song wasn't so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2- Focus

"Ryugazaki Rei," he muttered to himself as he scanned the check-in tables for his folder. "Ahh, found it!" He quickly picked it up off the table, opened it up, and pulled out his name tag, sticking it on the left side of his shirt before beginning to search for Nagisa's folder. In his excitement, the blond had run off to who knows where, disappearing into the crowd of students before Rei could give him further instructions. He knew that events such as these were usually planned out by the hour, so they would at least need schedules, plus they needed nametags and their room assignments, since the university would be their home for the next two and a half days. But the chances that Nagisa would actually remember to pickup these items were slim to none, so Rei carefully searched the tables once again until he found a red folder with the name Hazuki Nagisa printed on it. As expected, he hadn't even bothered to come over here… Rei let out an almost inaudible tsk sound as he snatched it up off the table; Nagisa was so careless sometimes. Luckily, Rei was diligent enough for the both of them.

After moving away from the check in area, he noticed that most of the students were filing into the auditorium, so he figured that he should probably do the same. He would catch up with Nagisa sooner more likely than later. After all, this assembly was mandatory. And, sure enough, as soon as he entered, Nagisa was waiting for him in one of the middle rows. "Rei-chan! Over here!" he called, waving his arms. Rei nodded at his friend in acknowledgment. Well, at least he was on time. He hurried to Nagisa's row and took a seat, motioning for him to do the same. And for a moment, it was pleasantly quiet between the two of them. Rei wasn't planning to lecture Nagisa on what he did, he really wasn't. To be honest, he was just content that he hadn't had to go on a search and drag to the auditorium mission. But then… "Geeze Rei-chan, finally!" he said, drawing out the last word for emphasis. "Where were you?"

Rei narrowed his eyes, glaring at Nagisa. "Where was I? Where was _I_? Where were _you_?! You're the one who ditched me as soon as we got here!"

"Ehh? What are you talking about?"

"Once we got to the campus, you ran off!"

A flash of guilt crossed Nagisa's features. He smiled at Rei sheepishly. "I'm sorry; I got excited, and I thought you were behind me! But then I turned around and you weren't there, and I saw they had snacks in the lobby, so I just decided to… Wait- where did you go, anyway?"

"I actually did something productive and got our welcome packets."

"We have welcome packets?" Rei sighed heavily and handed Nagisa's folder over to him.

"Here. Take it."

"Thanks, Rei-chan!" He had only just started going through the folder's contents when the voice of a young woman rang through the auditorium. All at once, everyone fell silent, their attention turned to the speaker on the stage.

"Good afternoon and welcome!" said the woman cheerfully. "I'm Ms. Haniko, and I am the coordinator of the welcome weekend here at this university. For the next two and a half days, this university will be your home, and so I hope you find your stay here to be a pleasant one. You will all be staying in our special guest dorms; you should find your room assignment in your welcome packet. If you have not already done so, at the conclusion of this assembly, you can tag and drop off your bags off in the lobby; we will be having volunteers deliver them to your rooms, so that they'll be there waiting for you when you settle in for the night. Now, as for the itinerary for the weekend, you will find that starting on page two of your welcome packet. Today, you'll be taking a tour of the campus, so you'll get to see everything from the classroom buildings, to the rec center, the labs, the student lounge…"

As the woman spoke, Rei listened diligently, like any good student would, following along in the packet as she went over their schedule for the weekend. He glanced around, and it looked as if most everyone else was doing the same. Some were even taking notes. He smiled. It was refreshing to see such focus and interest in the academics, since he so rarely saw that at home. Well, no, that wasn't true; he so rarely saw that in the people that he actually spent time with back at home. And he loved his friends, but… Haruka was focused on swimming, and would often leave class early just to use the school's pool. Makoto always did his homework, but his focus was more on… Haruka. And Nagisa… He glanced over next to him to find Nagisa doodling a picture of Iwatobi-chan on the back of his folder. Rei shook his head. He tapped Nagisa on the shoulder and pointed at the speaker on stage, instructing him to pay attention, but the blond just pouted and leaned his head against Rei's shoulder for the duration of the talk.

At first, it made Rei feel uncomfortable to have Nagisa so close, where everyone could see them, but gradually, his anxiety faded. It wasn't as if anybody was paying attention to them, anyway, right? _Of course not_, he thought to himself. _Why would they be?_ He slowly relaxed and leaned his head down on top of Nagisa's head, only for a second though, until he remembered where he was, and then he shot back up in his seat. At first, Nagisa said nothing; he merely raised a brow at Rei's odd behavior. Then came his sly grin, and finally, "Something wrong, Rei-chan?"

Of course, he had to ask this while nuzzling his face against Rei's arm and rubbing their shoes together as if he was trying to start a game of footsies. Briefly, he wondered if he had fallen asleep and was dreaming right now. Because this was how his last dream with Nagisa had started. They were just playing footsies. At first… and then…

"Rei-chan? Is something wrong?" Nagisa repeated, this time, a hint of concern in his voice. Rei discretely pinched himself and looked around. Nothing had changed.

"Nope, not dreaming," he murmured.

"What?"

"Uhh- nothing. It's- nothing. I'm fine. But if you're going to lean on me, may I at least ask that you do it facing forward? Maybe then, you'll actually listen to the presentation."

"Aww, but that's not fair! You're not paying attention; why do I have to?"

" Hey, I was-I am paying attention," Rei huffed.

"Then what did she just say?"

"She… we're on… we were just on page… Well it's not like you would know either!"

"Oooh, I knew it! Rei-chan sleeping at a school event; I'm surprised at you!"

"I wasn't sleeping!" A couple of students in the surrounding rows turned to look at him, which told him he was being too loud. _Oh no. Oh god no. _He had drawn attention to himself'; this was the last thing he wanted. Rei ducked his head in embarrassment and lowered his voice. "I wasn't sleeping," he repeated. "I just… zoned out for a moment, which is perfectly reasonable, since I didn't get much sleep on the train. But now we are both going to pay attention, so that we know what to do and where to go for small groups tomorrow."

"We have small groups?"

"Exactly. Now face forward, and pay attention, and stop drawing those ridiculous pictures of our mascot."

"Ok, ok, sheesh! Someone's bossy today."

"I'm not being bossy. I simply think it would be beneficial for you to pay at-"

Nagisa laughed. "It's ok, Rei-chan; I don't mind. I like it when you take charge sometimes! You make sure things get done, and then…"

_He likes it when- does he even realize what he's saying? Wait, what is he saying? He's still talking. Pull it together, Ryugazaki; he's still talking!_

"…So do you think you're ready to take over for Mako-chan?" Nagisa finished, as Rei forced himself to focus on the words again. Swim captain? When had the topic switched to swimming? Nagisa looked at him expectantly, while Rei tried to mentally catch up with what was happening. And, after several long seconds of attempting to come up with an intelligible answer, he settled on the ever eloquent:

"…Huh?"

"I asked if you're ready to take over Mako-chan's spot as swim team captain this year. Geeze, Rei-chan; face forward and pay attention," he said, mimicking Rei's tone from earlier.

"Oh- I- of course!"

But the blond was no longer listening; instead he leaned his head back against Rei's arm, scooting in closer so that their thighs were touching. "So," he whispered. "I wasn't listening to the part about the dorm rooms. We get to be roommates, right?" He grinned and Rei just nodded, trying to ignore the blond boy pressed right up against him and focus on the assembly.

"Oh, good! Because Rei-chan makes the best pillow."

"D-don't say such things in public! And you won't be using me as a pillow; you'll have your own bed."

"Aww. Too bad."

Rei turned away as he felt the blush rise in his cheeks. Well, if there was one thing Nagisa was focused on, other than swimming and eating, it was making Rei flustered. And right now, intentional or not, he was doing an excellent job of it.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_ Thanks for reading! We'll get to more plot next time; I promise. For now, just setting the stage with these two cute dorks

(Also, yes, there is implied Mako/Haru if you squint, but they don't actually appear in this story, so if that pairing's not your thing, don't worry; they're not a main focus. :P)


	3. Chapter 3- It Hurts to Pretend

The library had to be Rei's favorite part of the tour. Or, at least, the one they were in right now. There were other libraries on campus, five to be exact, but this one was by far the biggest. And the fanciest. Rei loved everything about it. The way his shoes sounded against the marble floors, the way the grand mahogany bookshelves seemed to stretch on for eternity, the way the books smelled, old and new, mixing together…it was beautiful. The library consisted of four floors, and each floor had different sections, which were clearly marked, and each section contained a specific category of books. He was currently perusing the physics section. He eyed the books longingly, wondering what it would be like to have thousands of studies of acceleration and motion at his fingertips whenever he wanted. There were so many- he couldn't possibly read them all before graduation… Still, he could try…

"Rei-chan," a voice behind him whispered. "Rei-chan, the group is leaving; we gotta go!" He felt hands tugging on sleeve, and he sighed.

"And since when do you care about following the group, Nagisa-kun?" he asked incredulously. "I seem to remember you were more than happy to let them leave you at the cafeteria earlier."

"Yeah, but that was different!"

"Why? Because you like the cafeteria, and the library bores you?"

"Ahh no!… I mean not really… Ok, yes- what gave it away?"

Rei snorted. "Your disinterest in anything academic you mean? I don't know, but if we're just talking about the library, you falling asleep on the couch downstairs was a pretty good indicator. That's why I left you to come up here; I figured I'd just wake you up on my way out."

"Aww, Rei-chan is so considerate," Nagisa said, giggling. "But seriously, we have to go! Everyone's leaving, and it's important that we stay with our group; you said that yourself, so come on; let's go!" The blond tugged on his jacket once again, this time with enough force to actually move Rei a few inches forward before he shook him off.

"All right all right; I'm coming." He took one last look at his temporary sanctuary before following Nagisa down the stairs. He hadn't had nearly enough time to explore the library like he'd wanted to, but he resolved that he'd be back before the weekend was over. Though to do that, he'd have to lose Nagisa somehow, and he wasn't quite sure how he would do that, especially with how Nagisa had been acting today. He was so… clingy. True, Nagisa was clingy all the time, especially with Rei, but today, it seemed like he was trying extra hard to be close to him. All throughout the tour so far, he'd been constantly touching Rei, pulling on his arm, poking him in the side, playing with his glasses… Not that he normally minded this kind of attention; he had long since gotten used to it from Nagisa. But right now, when he was trying to focus on all this university had to offer, the blonde's antics were a huge distraction. He'd definitely have to find something to keep his friend occupied if he had any hopes of sneaking away later…

It turns out the group had left without them, but they didn't get too far, and Rei and Nagisa caught up to them easily. "So, where are we going next?" Nagisa asked, looking up at Rei expectantly. "

"Well, I believe that the recreation center is our next stop, so…" he trailed off as he felt their hands touch. He flinched, and he expected Nagisa to pull away, but he didn't. Instead, he slid his hand into Rei's and laced their fingers together. Rei felt Nagisa give his hand a light squeeze, and he panicked. What did this mean? What was he supposed to do? Was anyone watching? Did anyone notice? Did they care? Frantic thoughts like these ran through his mind until he felt another light squeeze on his palm. He looked down at Nagisa, who offered him a warm smile. "So we don't get separated," he explained, gesturing to their interlocked hands. He closed his eyes and smiled wider in the way he always did when he was genuinely happy. Rei didn't have the heart to tell him to let go. Even though his heart was pounding in his chest. And his hand was sweaty. He wondered if Nagisa noticed… If he did, he didn't say anything. In fact, he acted as if this were the most natural thing in the world, two third year boys, holding hands, and…

_He's swinging our hands back and forth. There's a rhythm in his step… Is he trying to skip? Is he trying to get me to skip? I will not do that! That's inappropriate for boys our age! We're already holding hands like we're in grade school…_

"Hey look, there it is!" Nagisa shouted excitedly, once again pulling Rei out of his thoughts. He pointed to the rec center. "Oh I hope they have a pool- do they have a pool?" he asked their group leader. The leader nodded.

"Yes; the university has a very nice pool that is open year round since it's indoors. Unfortunately, the swim team is having practice right now, so we can't let you go in there, but we'll pass by it on our way to the gym."

Of course, Nagisa wanted to do more than just pass by, so he hung at the back as the group filed into the recreation center. He stopped at the doors of the pool room and tightened his grip on Rei's hand, signaling that they were in this together. Once everyone else was safely out of sight, they snuck inside. And once they saw what awaited them on the other side, Rei was secretly glad that Nagisa had made him do this. The pool was huge, much larger than their high school pool, and it was filled with dozens of talented swimmers. Graceful, agile bodies took turns diving in, with perfect form, and then effortlessly gliding through the water to the end of the pool and back. Rei's eyes fixated on the boy in lane three; he was swimming backstroke. And doing a beautiful job of it, if he did say so himself. Of course, no one would be able to fully replace Makoto, but if he and Nagisa joined the swim team here, and they wanted to do a relay, then this boy might make a good addition to their team.

The boy must have noticed Rei's staring, however, because he stopped mid-stroke and swam to the edge of the pool. "Is… something wrong?" he asked. "Can I help you?"

"O-oh no, uhhh- we were just-" he paused, noticing the lack of weight on his hand. Nagisa was about ten feet away now. "…I was just… admiring your stroke."

"Oh, really? Thanks! I'm still working to get faster though, cut a few more seconds off my time, you know?" He grinned. "So, are you a swimmer too?"

"Yes. I am on my high school swim team. And I'm going to be captain this year." A small surge of pride swelled through him as he said this. Captain Ryugazaki; it really did have a nice ring to it.

"Ahh, captain; impressive! What stroke do you swim?"

"Butterfly."

"Cool; what about your boyfriend?"

Rei's face paled. "B-booy-friend?" he sputtered. _Boyfriend?_ He knew he needed to correct this misunderstanding, but his vocal cords wouldn't cooperate, and all he managed to do was stand there like an idiot and open and close his mouth a few times.

The backstroke swimmer seemed oblivious to his inner turmoil, so he continued. "Yeah, that kid with the blonde hair over there; you two are dating, right? What stroke does he swim? He seems to like the water a lot…"

Rei's eyes flitted anxiously between the backstroke swimmer and Nagisa, who had taken off his shoes and socks, and was now dipping his feet in the water. He swallowed and opened his mouth again, but still, no sound came out.

"… Oh, uhh- was I wrong? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to assume! It's just, I thought, with you two holding hands when you came in here, and…"

"No!" Rei blurted out. "No- I mean yes, yes, you were wrong. Nagisa-kun and I are just friends who go to the same high school. G-good friends, but… friends. Definitely friends."

"Ahh, my bad. Sorry about that." The other boy looked about as embarrassed as Rei felt, and he desperately tried to change the subject. "So, uhh your friend's name is Nagisa… What's yours?"

"R-rei."

"Ha! That's funny; you guys have girly names! Me too! My name is Yumi." And Rei couldn't help but smile. A near perfect backstroke and a girly name? Yes, he would fit in perfectly. All they would need to do now was find a freestyle swimmer to join their little group, and with all this talent in the room, he was sure that they could find somebody…

"So, Yumi… Have you ever considered swimming in a relay?" But before Yumi could answer, there was a loud splash, followed by high-pitched giggling. Rei gritted his teeth and slowly turned his head toward the source of the noise, though he already knew what he would find. And sure enough, there was Nagisa, fully clothed, in the school pool. He pushed off against the wall and started swimming, the weight of the wet clothes not appearing to slow him down at all. "Why?" Rei murmured under his breath. "Why?"

"Rei-chan!" Nagisa called. He splashed some water in Rei's direction to get his attention. "Come on in! The water feels amazing!"

"No. I did not bring a suit, and I am not going swimming in my clothes."

"Oh… well just take your clothes off then!"

"NAGISA-KUN!"

"What? I skinny dip all the time; it feels great! And we're all guys in here, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about!" He took off his sweater, and then his shirt underneath. All eyes were on him and Nagisa. Rei froze. He felt his face get hot; he didn't like being the center of attention, especially not when it involved Nagisa stripping. Was he really planning on getting naked here in front of all these people? Rei couldn't watch. He buried his face in his hands, but before Nagisa could shed any more clothing, a low, booming voice told him to stop.

"Uh oh," Yumi muttered. "Captain's back. You guys better go before-" But it was too late. The swim captain rushed over, yelling at Nagisa to get out of the pool. "Hey, you! This is a training pool for serious athletes, not some play pool for you to splash around in! Get out! And you!" He pointed at Rei.

"Me?"

"You're not allowed in here either- this is a closed swim practice! Do you know what that means?"

"Y-yes." Rei shifted his gaze to the floor, deeply ashamed. "I'm very sorry. We …just …wanted to see the pool… we're swimmers too." With each pause, his voice grew softer, weaker under the stern gaze of the swim captain.

"Whatever," he growled. "Just get him outta here. And don't let it happen again."

"Oh, it won't; I promise." Rei winced; that was the voice of their group leader. They had been caught. "Ryugazaki! Hazuki! Come here!" Nagisa hastily pulled his clothes back on and hoisted himself out of the pool to join Rei. "Ditching the group, interrupting a closed swim practice, what were you two thinking?"

Nagisa pursed his lips together. "I was thinking… That I really wanted to swim!" he answered finally. He flashed her a bright smile, but it only seemed to make her angrier. A few students in the group and some of the boys in the pool snickered at Nagisa's comment.

"Don't get smart with me, Mr. Hazuki. Try it again, and you won't like the consequences. And you- Ryugazaki-" Rei inhaled sharply. He wanted nothing more than to disappear right now, just to sink down into the water and never come up. He grimaced and steeled himself for the worst. "What were you thinking?"

"I- I- nothing, Ma'am. I apologize."

"Apologize to them," she instructed., gesturing toward the swim team. Nagisa and Rei turned and bowed their heads.

"We're very sorry for interrupting your practice," they said, almost in unison. The captain responded with a scoff.

"Whatever." They took that as their cue to leave. Once they were outside, the group leader told them to head back to the dorms and change into some dry clothes. She warned them not to do anything like this again. Rei wasn't wet at all, but he wasn't about to argue. Besides, the tour was almost over anyway. And so, after one last apology, Rei grabbed Nagisa's arm and together they set off towards the residence halls. It was a particularly cold day for March, and with Nagisa's wet clothes and hair, it wasn't any surprise to Rei when he started shivering.

"S-sss-so c-cold," he whined. "How mmm-much f-further?"

"A little further; just keep walking" Rei responded coldly. "And it's your own fault, you know." But as the minutes of silence dragged on, Rei found that he couldn't ignore his friend's growing discomfort. His teeth were chattering, his shoulders trembled… Then, when the wind picked up and nipped at their faces, Nagisa whimpered, and Rei couldn't take it anymore. With a sigh, he took off his jacket and draped it around the smaller boy. He received a grateful smile in return.

"Thanks, Rei-chan; you're the best." His cold hand clasped onto Rei's, as if trying to steal more of his warmth, and he moved in closer so that their sides were touching. Rei grunted at the contact; now his clothes were going to get wet. But, seeing as they were almost to the dorms, he decided it didn't really matter too much. He pulled his hand away, but only so he could wrap an arm around Nagisa's shoulders, and Nagisa huddled against Rei as they walked. It was strange, Rei thought- not that they were doing this, but how natural it felt. To just hand Nagisa his jacket… to pull him in close to keep him warm… Would he do this for anyone else? _Probably not,_ he reasoned, as a blush spread across his cheeks. Rei was also starting to feel warm.

The residence halls were mostly empty when they arrived; most of the groups weren't back from their campus tour. Technically, they weren't even supposed to be able to go to their rooms yet, since not all of them were done being cleaned, but the receptionist took one look at Nagisa and handed them their room key. Rei muttered a quick thanks and hurried off, pulling Nagisa behind him. Once they found their room, Room 228, Rei ushered Nagisa into the bathroom and ordered him to get out of his wet clothes immediately. The blond sneezed in response.

"See? This is why you don't go swimming in your clothes in March," he chided. "You're going to get sick."

Nagisa sniffled. "But you have to admit, it was fun!"

"Until the captain found us and kicked us out…" he grumbled. Another sneeze. "Get out of those clothes, Nagisa-kun. And then, you should take a hot shower. It should help you feel better. I'll get some dry clothes ready for when you come out."

"Rei-chan, you sound like my mom!" He started taking off his clothes.

"Then stop acting like a chil- will you wait until I leave the room please?!"

"But we change in front of each other at swim practice all the time!"

"Yeah, well… just… wait." This earned another chuckle from the blond.

"Ok," he answered with a shrug. "Rei-chan is so weird sometimes."

"Just… get warm, all right?" He turned and left, shutting the door behind him. Rei sighed. What was wrong with him? Nagisa was right; they changed in front of each other all the time; why should now be any different? But for some reason, the thought of helping Nagisa strip off his soaked clothes made him feel… Well, he honestly didn't have a word for it, but it was a feeling he wasn't ready to deal with right now…

After taking a deep breath to compose himself, he took in the surroundings of their dorm room. It was nice, if not a little plain, but there was plenty of space for two full sized desks, two dressers, a minifridge, and of course, their beds, which had their bags on them. Rei decided to make himself useful and unpack their things. Though neither of them had brought very many outfits, Rei decided to use the both dressers anyway. Nagisa's clothes went in the left dresser; Rei's clothes went in the right. Socks and underwear went in the first drawer, shirts went in the second, and pants went in the third. Rei smiled. It felt good to be organized. He knew that with Nagisa, it would probably wouldn't stay that way, but at least the weekend would start off with everything in it's proper place. Once everything was unpacked, he selected boxers, some comfortable clothes, and a pair of fuzzy pink socks with penguins printed on them. Rei couldn't help but chuckle at these. Only Nagisa would have such ridiculous socks, but at least they looked warm, and in that sense, they were very practical.

Rei laid Nagisa's outfit out on the bed for him, and then went to go lay down on his own bed. It was surprisingly comfortable. He pulled out his book to read, but he soon found his eyes growing heavy, and before he knew it, he was being pulled into sleep.

He must not have been asleep for very long though, because he awoke to a freshly cleaned Nagisa crawling into bed with him. Rei jumped. "What are you doing?!" Nagisa however, seemed un-phased by this outburst, as he calmly tugged at the covers and pulled them over the two of them.

"I looked at our schedule," he whispered. "Dinner's not for a little while, and I'm tired, so I thought we could take a nap."

"Well, yes, that's fine, but… Why aren't you in your own bed?!"

"My bed's not as comfy as yours."

"They're exactly the same."

"No they're not!" he argued. "Besides, yours is warmer, and I'm still cold." He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself dramatically to prove his point.

Rei sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Fine. You can stay."

"Really?! Yay!" Nagisa's face lit up with pure joy as he sank down into the bed and curled up against Rei's side. He lay his head on Rei's chest and closed his eyes.

"Umm, Nagisa?"

"Mmm, yes?"

"Uhh, never mind." He wanted to tell his friend that he was too close, that he needed to give him some space, that he was beginning to get those uncomfortable feelings like the ones he'd had on the train, but for some reason, the words wouldn't come. Maybe it was because Nagisa looked so comfortable… And he did have to admit, he felt warmer now that they were like this, and it was a nice kind of warm. Cozy even. He closed his eyes and pulled his arm out from under Nagisa so that he could wrap it around his waist. Yes, this was far more comfortable; he finally understood why couples slept like this together, especially, on cold nights.

_But we're not a couple._

He started to move his arm back down, but Nagisa grabbed him by the wrist and placed it back where it was. Then, he released him, but patted him on the hand first, as if to say, _don't go anywhere._ And now, Rei didn't know what to think- was Nagisa sleeping? Was this a reflex, or did he do that on purpose? Did he want Rei's arm around his waist, and if he did, was it because he was cold, or simply because the gesture felt comforting? He couldn't tell... Part of him wished that they could just go back to being first years where their main worry was teaching Rei to swim, and these complicated feelings didn't exist… Or maybe they did, but they were a lot easier to ignore…

"…Rei?"

Rei frowned. The only time Nagisa said his name without the suffix were times when he was trying to be serious, or when he was upset about something. Either way, it meant he was awake. "Yeah?" he answered. "I'm here. What is it?"

"Why does it bother you when people think we're dating?"

The silence was drowned out by the alarms going off in Rei's head. _He doesn't- he couldn't- did he hear?! There's no way he could have-_

"What do you mean?" was all he could manage to choke out as he tried to silence his thoughts.

"Well, there was that time at the festival, with the girl in the pretty dress. I think she liked you… And then, there were all those times at school; you'd see people whisper, and you'd rush us out of the cafeteria… And then today…"

Rei turned his head away. "So you heard that, huh?"

"I did, and it's not like he was trying to be mean about it, so… why does it bother you so much?"

"B-because it's not true!" He sputtered. "Because if I don't correct them, then people will… get the wrong idea about us…"

"…And what if they do?... Does it really matter?"

"Yes!"

"…Why?"

And Nagisa had a point. What did it matter what other people thought about their relationship? It wasn't as if he had a crush on someone else, so if other people came to the conclusion that he was dating his best friend, why should he care? He knew that it was illogical for him to care, but for some reason, he did… Maybe it was because…

"Because it hurts to pretend things like that," he mumbled, after a long period of silence. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for a response, but none came. After a moment or two, he looked down to find Nagisa sound asleep in his arms. He sighed. It was probably for the best… But still… He bent his head down and kissed Nagisa's forehead. "I can't keep pretending, Nagisa-kun," he whispered. "Not even for you."


End file.
